Overwhelmed by pregnancy nutrition advice? Feeling like your diet will never measure up?

Before you give up completely and eat whatever catches your eye, learn how to figure out whether you're getting the nutrients you and your baby need during pregnancy.

How MyPlate can help you during pregnancy

You may remember the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid, which outlined how many servings of food you should eat from each category every day. That pyramid has been replaced with MyPlate, a system for choosing healthy food based on the USDA's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

MyPlate divides food into five main groups – grains, fruit, vegetables, protein, and dairy – plus oils. Here's a quick look at those groups and how much the USDA recommends that you eat from each during pregnancy.

The sample plan below shows the recommended amounts for a 32-year-old woman who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds before she got pregnant, is in her second trimester, and gets less than 30 minutes of daily physical activity. These results are not a general guideline. To get an individualized meal plan, enter your information at ChooseMyPlate.gov.

The MyPlate food groups

Grains: 7 ounces a dayGenerally, an ounce of grains equals one slice of bread, one small corn or flour tortilla, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta. Get at least half of your daily grains from whole grains (like whole wheat bread or brown rice). Whole grains contain the most fiber, vitamins, and nutrients.

Fruits: 2 cups a dayVary the color of the fruit you eat and choose fresh over frozen or canned whenever possible. Many prepackaged varieties are preserved in sugary liquid, so choose products without added sugar. Bonus: The fiber in fruit helps prevent two common side effects of pregnancy, hemorrhoids and constipation.

Vegetables: 3 cups a dayFresh vegetables taste better than canned or frozen, and they're also a better choice to control sodium and avoid preservatives. But when it comes to fiber and vitamins, canned and frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh. For maximum nutrition, vary the color of the vegetables you choose. Broccoli, for example, is packed with folate, calcium, and B vitamins. Sweet potatoes provide vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber.

Meat and beans: 6 ounces a dayThis equals about two servings that are each the size of a deck of cards. Choose lean meat and limit fish to 12 ounces per week. (More than that may expose your baby to harmful levels of mercury.)

Dairy: 3 cups a dayIn the MyPlate plan, 1 cup of dairy equals 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese, and 2 ounces of processed cheese. In general, dairy products are a great source of calcium and protein. And low-fat varieties give you all the nutrients you need without the extra fat.

Oils: 6 teaspoons a dayThe best sources include canola oil, olive oil, safflower oil, fatty fish, avocados, nuts, seeds, and olives. Note: An avocado is a fruit but it's included in the oils category because most of its calories come from fat.

Discretionary calories: 266 a dayThis MyPlate sample plan budgets 266 "extra calories" that you can spend as you choose, but you must include them in your daily calorie budget. In other words, you could use them on a scoop of ice cream or some sugar in your decaf iced tea, but these discretionary calories count toward your daily total calories (2,200 in this case).

How it all adds up

Once you've created your daily food plan, don't go crazy trying to hit the perfect numbers in each category. Instead, shoot for an average that's in the desired range over the course of a week or so.

As your pregnancy progresses, you'll need to eat a little more because your nutrition needs change during the different stages of pregnancy.

If you eat roughly the amount that's outlined in each food group, take a daily prenatal vitamin, and are gaining a consistent amount of weight (about a pound per week in the second and third trimesters), you and your baby will be well nourished.

The Harvard alternative to MyPlate

Not everyone agrees that the USDA's MyPlate is the best nutrition model. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have created their own eating guide, called the Healthy Eating Plate, which they claim better reflects current research on a balanced diet.

Harvard's plan encourages you to eat more vegetables because most Americans don't eat enough from this important food group. Though the Healthy Eating Plate differs from USDA's MyPlate by not including potatoes in its list of recommended vegetables. That's because potatoes are full of rapidly digested starch and have the same effect on blood sugar as sweets.

Which model is best to follow during pregnancy?

You can't go wrong following either version. Because experts don't completely agree, you can expect to find slight variations in their recommendations, but the two plans have plenty in common.

Even if you can't follow either program to the letter, each gives you something to strive for, says Alan R. Fleischman, neonatologist and medical director for the March of Dimes. Eating nutritiously during pregnancy can pay huge dividends for the rest of your baby's life.

"We know that some simple dietary changes can greatly improve the chances of having a healthy baby. For example, consuming 400 micrograms of the B vitamin folic acid every day before pregnancy begins and during early pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of a serious birth defect of the brain and spine," says Fleischman. "Poor nutrition during pregnancy has lifelong effects on the growth and development of your baby. It's more important to eat wisely during pregnancy than practically any other time in life."

Do these food guidelines always apply?

There are five exceptions to the recommended pregnancy food formula. If one of these applies to you, or if you have other concerns about following the food guidelines, talk to your healthcare practitioner about your personal nutritional needs.

If you're significantly overweight, you might do better with fewer calories, but talk to your practitioner to make sure you're getting the nutrients your baby needs.

If you develop gestational diabetes or have pre-existing diabetes, it's likely a registered dietitian will help you plan your diet. It will have an emphasis on eating whole foods and getting a consistent amount of carbohydrates at each meal. You'll also need to monitor your blood sugar levels closely and communicate regularly with your healthcare team.

Sample menu for a pregnant woman

Here's an example of a daily menu specifically designed for our "sample mom," with a few extra snack suggestions. Your menu will probably be similar to this one, but register on ChooseMyPlate.gov to get your customized plan.

* A note about margarine: Not all margarines are created equal. Some contain trans fats, which are harmful to your health, even in small amounts. How can you tell which ones have trans fats? "Partially hydrogenated" oil will be on the list of ingredients. The American Heart Association recommends choosing soft liquid or tub margarines (not sticks). Don't assume margarine that says "0 g trans fat" on the Nutrition Facts label is completely free of trans fats. The FDA allows manufacturers to make that claim if a product contains less than 0.5 grams per serving, but it's better for you not to get any.

How the servings add up

Here's how the foods above fit into the MyPlate plan for a total of 2,173 calories:

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